


Familial Faces

by the_writing_wolf



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Bonding, Family Reunions, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Memory Loss, Mother-Son Relationship, Photographs, Reincarnation, its only carter and aldus tho, kendra always loving her kids no mater how much older than her they are, kendra is leonard snart's mother pass it on, kendra leaving herself a map to remembering her kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_writing_wolf/pseuds/the_writing_wolf
Summary: After Edith died, Kendra lived another life.And in that one her name was Lydia Snart.
Relationships: Kendra Saunders & Leonard Snart, Leonard Snart's Mother/Lewis Snart
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. Introducing Lydia Snart

**Author's Note:**

> ok so according to the timeline Edith Boardman died in 1925 and Kendra Saunders was born sometime in the 80s that leaves around 60 years unaccounted for. 
> 
> Leonard Snart is in his 40s. 
> 
> we have absolutely no information on Leonard Snart's mother. 
> 
> therefor there is nothing saying that Kendra can't be his mom.

Leonard Snart was born in 1972 to Lewis and Lydia Snart.

A white man and a black woman.

A cop and a bartender. 

Both of his parents worked hard to live a comfortable life. His father was distant and harsh but his mother was strong and compassionate. Both of his parents worked but because Lydia owned the bar she worked at he went to work with her. 

His mother was his world. 

Before he started school he went with his mother to the bar she managed. His first memory is sitting on her lap as she read out sums and figures and talked out her plan and budget for the month. He is also sure he took his first steps and said his first word in that office. He remembers kicking up such a fuss when it was time for kindergarten. 

All of these moments were documented with her ever present camera. His mother adored photography spent quite a bit of extra money on film. her camera was an older Polaroid camera. He always thought it was magic how the pictures printed out so quickly. When he was around eight he asked why she took so many pictures. She told him. "We only have one picture of your grandparents. One picture to remember them by. But we have so may of your Uncle even though he is gone you will always know who he was and what he looked like. And when you are old and grown and we are buried in the ground you will have so many of the rest of us that we will be remembered. I'll never have to worry that you will forget what I looked like. And I have pictures of you looking so cute and small to remember you, even when you get old and cranky."

  
  


She taught him many valuable lessons like how to spot and lose a tail, how to lie without lying, how to throw a punch, how to pick a pocket, and how to be patient. As well as how to balance the books and make a budget and the importance of timing. It's a balm to himself later in life that all the most important lessons he used to survive he learned from her and not from Lewis. 

Its too bad none of the things she taught him for any help to her when she was murdered.

When he is 10 his world shrinks down to Lisa. All they have to remember Lydia was a dozen photo albums and her final message. Lewis starts drinking and starts taking bribes to help make ends meet and feed his new addiction. Till that ends up getting him busted for stealing from a crime scene. They go live with their Grandpa while Lewis in locked up. And when he is out he starts teaching him lessons and making him go out on jobs, because the only work a dirty cop can do is thieving. They leave the photo albums at Grandpa Stan's and the original recording of their mothers lasts words. Nothing and no one is safe from Louis. 

Not for a very long time.

* * *

His mother's final words are spoken at a payphone to the 911 operator while she was bleeding out. She knew her wound was fatal and an ambulance would not make it in time. she leaves a message for him and his sister.

It's the only recording of her voice anywhere. 

* * *

Lydia Snart’s most prized possession was her Polaroid camera. There was never a day that she didn't pick up the thing to capture a moment. She loved taking pictures of her kids and the world around her. She had several photo books filled to the brim with pictures, it was her legacy. 

When he was little she would flip through the books and tell him about each picture. One of his favorite pictures was her wedding photo she looked so lovely in her dress, Grandmother Edith’s dress she would say. Dancing with father and a picture of her with his Uncle Aldus arm in arm. 

Currently her camera and most of the photo books sit in a safety deposit box in Central National Bank. Those that Lisa dose not keep anyway.

* * *

Leonard only usually keeps three photos with him. One is of his mother by herself wearing a summer dress, a joyful smile on her face. One is of her holding baby Lisa in her rocking chair. And the last is of her and him faces side by side smiling brightly. 

So even though his mother has been dead and gone for over thirty years he still knows exactly what she looks like right down to the amount of freckles on her face. He only bring himself to listens to the recording once a year, it hurts every time he hears it. The words of love spoken through harsh gasps an apology for dying, and the only promise she had ever broken.

Its easier to look at photos of happier times. 

* * *

The first time he meets Kendra Saunders he thinks the bird mask was a bit much but he gives them props for leaning hard into the theme. Its a solid costume and the masks are suitably identity concealing. Because he swears he has met her before, there was just something about her voice that was familiar, he just can't _place_ it. He listens to the time traveler about the fate of the world and Vandal Savage and reincarnated lovers.

He thinks it's bullshit, but he has seen stranger things ... _probably_. 

He agrees to go because it will be fun. He thinks about all the thinks he could steal, and all the money he could make, and all the fun he was going to have.

He doesn't think about the familiar voice. 

Not until the second time they meet.

* * *

When he sees her the second time it's daytime and she is not wearing the costume. And suddenly he knows exactly why her voice sounded familiar. He is lucky that all the attention is on the suddenly appearing time ship it gives him some time to calm his racing heart to bring himself back under control. To center himself again after such a revelation. Reincarnation Kendra Saunders reincarnates. It's not bullshit. This is a woman who has lived many lives for thousands of years. 

He thinks about this mother last message. _‘in this life and the next I will find you again...’_

And he remembers with sudden clarity that his mother never lied to him she always told the truth to him even when it was hard to hear or it would have been easier to lie. 

He looks at the woman wearing his mamma face and remembers the rest.

_**'...Not even death can stop me...'** _

His mamma never did make a promise she couldn't keep.

**'I Promise.'**


	2. Picture book, when you were just a baby, those days when you were happy, a long time ago.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He always thought that the embossed 'memories' on the cover was extremely cliche, but that is exactly what this was. 
> 
> A book of memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from the song picture book by the kinks.

Everything went to shit. 

Fast.

First it was with the team going to visit Aldus Boardman. His Uncle Aldus the day he died. He almost wants to go because he can't remember his uncle. He died when Len was three. And its hard to leave a lasting impression on a three year old. 

His mother had been devastated by his passing. Had clung to Len and had not put him down for a solid week. 

And Kendra who barely remembered Aldus was grieving just as had as Lydia Snart grieved. Will grieve? But while his mother fell apart at the loss and clung to Len like a lifeline, Kendra got angry, her fury burned cold in her simmering beneath the surface ready to use to strike at Savage... Well at Hunter first.

And then the fuck up at the weapons deal. What a fucking shit show. They really should have let Len and Mick and Sara handle this. They were the only ones who had the right kind of presence for a place like this the other stood out like a sore thumb. But there was no trust.

And then they had to go retrieve the piece that Raymond's lost, and he and Mick take the easy job to stealing a knife from a private collection in 1975. 

Easy. 

Like taking candy from a baby. 

15 minutes, Tops. 

* * *

  
  


It should have been easy.

He and Mick knew exactly what they were doing but Raymond did not trust them. Decided to come along and fuck everything up. That pesky trust thing, Hunter had no handle on this situation and it was going to end up with someone else dead.

* * *

And it did. 

  
  


Carter was dead and Kendra was stabbed and they were stuck in 1975 until Kendra was stable. 

And apparently Raymond and Stein were performing experimental surgery to remove the dagger fragments.  _ Peachy _ .

At least he got to steal from Savage. Even if his fortune was Carter's dead body. 

* * *

And now Kendra was stable and recovering and everyone was calling it a night. Get some rest before they make their next move. Lick their wounds bury their dead. Their first bit of rest since leaving 2016. 

He sneaks into the medbay where Gideon was keeping watch making sure Kendra was out of the woods. Physically at least. Emotionally would be a completely different story. She just lost a son and a husband. Both of which she only remembered having for the shortest amount of time possible. 

And like a totally stalker he stands by her bedside and watches her sleep. 

She looks exactly the same just younger. There were less laugh lines on her face and she was much more trim and muscular than he had ever seen his mother. And she had superpowers and wings. His mother had been softer, softness brought by motherhood and age of healthy eating and moderate exercise, of having kids and a desk job. 

Lydia was a mother. Kendra is a warrior.

  
  
  


His fingers trace the leather cover of the photobook in his hands. 

He had thought about this a great deal while waiting for the room to clear. This book was one of the  _ very few _ possessions that he brought with him. It was a book of happier times. Of birthdays and holidays and wedding photos and family trips. Each photo labeled with the year and the occasion and the subjects. 

This one aspect of his mother that made more sense now. The way she organised and kept all of her photos. Meticulously labeling each one with the date place year and subject. As if without these details they would be forgotten. 

All the pictures were not for him and Lisa and future generations. Well at least not all the way. It was for her reincarnations. Something to help her remember her kids and her family. He had seen how Kendra had remembered Aldus and her last life from one photograph. How she had gone from barely tolerating Carter to deeply mourning his passing. 

He always thought that the embossed 'Memories' on the cover was extremely cliche, but that is exactly what this was. 

A book of memories.

  
  


"Snart?"

* * *

Kendra thinks that Leonard Snart is an odd one. He is always looking at her like she is some sort of puzzle he wants to work out. Which is funny because he goes out of his way to not interact with her as much as possible.

She really wants to know what his deal is. Because something about him is familiar something in his eyes nags at her like she should remember. Something important. But then everything happened and now she was alone and she did not have much time for the Cagey Captain Cold.

Right up until she woke up in the med bay in the middle of the night lights on low with the man himself standing beside her bedside. 

His piercing blue eyes snap to hers and he is focused in this moment instead of spacing off. He looks like he wants to say something.

"Do you need something?" Because she really can't think why else he would be here. 

He places the book on her lap the faded gold 'Memories' shine up at her from the cover. 

"What is this?"

"Yours." It's the only word he has said to her. And she is curious as to its contents. 

She flips over the cover and it's a nice family photo a man a boy and a woman holding a baby. It takes her a second to realize that the woman is her. Her hair is different, long and dark. But it's Her. A past her. And then she reads the words. Written in her own hand.

The Snart Family 

Lewis, Lydia, Leonard, and baby Lisa. 

1982

She jerks her head up sharply and Leonard Snart’s face is searching, waiting. The impassive mask fallen. 

She looks back down at the book and she turns the pages and she sobs. The next page is of her and Aldus, herself looking younger than the first picture. He is labeled Uncle Aldus. 

And she turns the pages dozens and dozens of happy moments and each one brings a spark of memory drawing her past life to the forefront. She doesn't know how long she sits there flipping through the pages staring at each photo letting the memories come to her. When she gets to the end she knows that there are gaps can feel the empty spaces between the moments. She remembers buying this book and putting the pages together. Something that she can see that will help her remember her children. She remembers the camera she bought on a whim but that will help her remember in the way seeing anything from her past life helps her remember. Its not everything.

But she knows enough. 

  
  
  


This is her son. 

  
  
  


She gently, reverently, sets the photo book down and swings her legs to the side. In a moment she is off the bed, and she has her not so little boy in her arms holding him tight. It's different now, he has a few inches on her. And older now. But like with Aldus it feels right. Feels like coming home. 

"My little lion boy." The words slip from her subconscious but they are the right ones. they cause him to finally move; to wrap his arms around her and hold her like she might vanish if he let go. 

"Mamma." It's barely a whisper. 

"Yes baby it's ok I have you." As she says the words she can remember saying them to her little boy after he woke up scared.

She can feel his shoulders tremble as he clutches her, all she can do is make reassuring sounds and gently rub his back. The movement so familiar like muscle memory. They stay like that for a good long while. But finally his shoulders stop shaking and her stab wound starts protesting. 

"Leo, I need to sit back down." 

And then she is sitting back on the bed her son scanning her midriff with worry. It makes her smile.

She pats his face, "it's healed but it's still kind of tender."

She catches a flash of relief before he smooths his face back to calm. 

“How much do you remember?” his voice is calm.

“Not much, it's never much at first, but every picture sparked a memory it's short but if I sleep on it it will fill it self out. Like it did with Aldus.”

“There are more books, you have about twenty, you said you made them so you could always remember... I only brought this one. And you need to rest.” and now her baby is fussing trying to tuck her back into the bed. It's sweet.

“My little Leo,” she brings her hand to cup his face to smooth away the furrow in his brow "you are all grown up and looking after me now?" It should feel weird how much she needs to hold this man who, an hour ago, was a stranger to her. 

It feels familiar. Like coming home. 

He looks as lost as she is. “Family always come first, there is nothing I would not do for you and Lisa.”

She remembers how she felt when she got the call the first time that Aldus died; that grief that tore at her, soothed only by having Leo in her arms. The same grief that is now doubled at the loss of Carter as well.

But she now has memories of a Grown Aldus walking her down the to be married. Visiting for the Holidays. Brief flashes of joy that help undercut the despair at their loss. The knowledge she gets to remember happier times with all of her children. 

Her son brought her hope and the knowledge that she is not alone and that she has more memories of her lost child.

There is so much that she wants to ask about his life and Lisa but there is still so much that she needs to remember, she knows that tonight she will dream and she will know more in the morning. And today has been long and she was stabbed earlier. And she can see that dark circles starting to form around his. 

So she pulls him down for another lighter hug. “Tomorrow you and me are going to have a proper chat. Right now we both need sleep.”

He hugs her back; it's an odd move like he doesn't quite know what to do. “Alright mamma.”

Tomorrow they would find time between taking care of Carter and Aldus, and they will talk and she will make him tell her how he became the man he is today. 

Tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also come at me on tumblr if you want to scream about Legends Headcannons
> 
> https://its-the-writing-wolf.tumblr.com/


End file.
